a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hitch viewing mirror assembly and method, where the mirror assembly can be mounted at the rear end of a vehicle in a manner to provide the driver of the vehicle a view of the hitching area at the rear end of the vehicle.
b) Background Art
The common way of connecting a towing vehicle to a trailer is to provide at the rear end of the towing vehicle a ball hitch, which engages a connecting socket member of the trailer. To make the hitch connection, the vehicle is backed toward the trailer so that the ball hitch is aligned in front of the trailer socket connection, and then is moved to a location just beneath the socket of the trailer hitch connection. After this, the front end of the trailed is lowered to make the ball and socket connection. This usually requires two people to accomplish this task effectively.
Various devices have been proposed to enable the driver to more effectively align the vehicle with the trailer hitch connection and move the vehicle to the proper hitching location. One method is to provide a viewing mirror located at the rear end of the vehicle or at the forward end of the trailer, so that the driver is provided with a line of sight from the driver forwardly to the rear view mirror at the driver location, back to hitch connection mirror and then to the hitching location. A review of the U.S. patent literature has revealed a number of these patents, which are the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,310 (Staggs) discloses a trailer hitch mirror alignment device where the mirror 70 is mounted to a pair of extendable arms. The base plate by which the device is mounted to the back of a pickup truck or some other object has magnets by which it can be mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,468 (Stephens) shows a trailer hitch alignment device where the mirror is mounted to the forward end of the trailer. The mirror has two halves which fold over on one another at a center line. The mirror is mounted in the lower half, and the upper half serves as a cover to be moved down over the mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,182 (Haworth) shows a trailer hitch alignment device which is mounted to the tailgate of a pickup truck. The mirror is a convex mirror to expand the field of vision. In FIG. 2 of the patent, it shows the reflected line of sight going down toward the back of the pickup truck and also toward the trailer hitch.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,342 (Quesada) shows a hitch viewing mirror where there is a first version for mounting it to the tailgate of a pickup truck, and a second version mounting the mirror to a back window of a station wagon or van. In the second version there are two angle mounting members, with the upper arm of each angle member attaching to the window by means of the suction cup, and the lower arm portions resting against the window.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,913 (Quesada) shows substantially the same apparatus as shown in the later issued Quesada patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,342) discussed immediately above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,669 (Wun) shows a rear mounted mirror device which appears to be more of a general purpose rear mirror to provide the driver with a complete view of the rear of the vehicle so that it can be backed up safely and easily. The mirror is mounted so that it can be moved to various angles, and this is done by means of a motor through a screw rod.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,606 (Granno) shows a hitch viewing mirror that is mounted to a trailer between the two gas tanks mounted on the front of the trailer. There is an extendable horizontal arm mounted to a stationary structure, and at the end of the horizontal arm there is a vertically adjustable straight arm to which the mirror is attached. The mirror is convex and enables the person to have a line of sight from the driver's seat to the rearview mirror and thence backwardly to the mirror mounted on a trailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,966 (Lowell, Jr.) shows a device for facilitating alignment with a trailer hitch, where there is a rotatable shaft 34 on which is mounted a mirror that provides a view of the trailer hitch. At the lower end of the rotatable shaft there is an extendable measuring tape, and the free end of the tape is connected by a ring and a suction cup to the back of the vehicle so that the length of tape 41 gives an alignment reference line from the middle of the rear trailer hitch. There is further an arrow like indicator which also is mounted to the shaft. When this element is pointing directly rearwardly, the vehicle is in proper alignment with the trailer hitch.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,914 (Dietrich) shows a hitch guide mirror mounted to the trailer hitch apparatus itself.
To the best knowledge of the applicants, none of the prior art trailer hitch assist devices, such as those described above, have been widely accepted.
It is an object of the present invention to provide such an assembly having a desirable balance of features, such as practicality, effectiveness, convenience of operation, capability of being manufactured at a reasonable cost, and adaptability to be used with various types of vehicles. Also, the mirror of the assembly provides a sufficiently extensive viewing area, and is sufficiently versatile that it can be mounted to a variety of vehicles and still effectively provide a proper view of the hitching area. The assembly should be sufficiently compact so that it can be easily stowed when not in use. Also, the mirror assembly of the present invention is arranged so that it can be easily and reliably positioned and not be affected by the vibrations that may occur due to the operation of the vehicle.